


these days, it seems like you like me, it feels like you like me (but not).

by spreadthighs



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 13:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5051113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spreadthighs/pseuds/spreadthighs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>valtteri likes nico. nico probably has way too much fun with that. heikki wishes nico would stop being a prat and just get with valtteri already.</p>
            </blockquote>





	these days, it seems like you like me, it feels like you like me (but not).

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MasterEyebrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasterEyebrow/gifts).



Valtteri is, to be honest, a perfectly nice boy. He's an exchange student from Finland, and he isn't in any of Nico's classes, but he's a friend of a friend — well if anyone's a friend of Felipe then that friend automatically become everyone else's friend. Someone had suggested playing twister when they were all drunk and if Nico remembers correctly it _should_ be Fernando, that sneaky bastard who had watched everyone else play while he sat by sipping beer. Somehow Valtteri had been roped in and he had ended up trying to keep his balance (awfully) over Nico. Which, of course, had turned out to be an utter failure, and Nico had yelped when Valtteri ended up on him, elbow digging painfully into his stomach.

The rest is mostly a drunken blur, Valtteri apologising and Nico rubbing at his stomach and mock sulking for the part because the boy looked absolutely adorable all flustered. Then Felipe had come along with more beer and had chastised Nico for being mean to the new kid (to which Nico had protested and Valtteri had shook his head and Felipe had laughed) and Nico had given him his most charming smile before leaving to sit with Adrian, a fellow engineering student. Mostly to complain about the annoying human beings he has been stuck with for projects, although Valtteri did creep into the conversation every now and then and Adrian had looked at Nico, amused, and told him everything he knew about Valtteri.

 

The first time Nico met Valtteri on campus was an awkward affair involving Valtteri accidentally spilling coffee all over his jeans. Valtteri had been desperately trying to avoid bumping into Nico, only to bump into a lamppost instead, and Nico had offered him tissue, not knowing if he should laugh or feel sorry for him, given how the sight had been comical.

The second time Nico met Valtteri on campus was in the library. Valtteri had looked up from his book and had seen Nico, and Nico had smiled by way of greeting because hey, that's what you do when you see people you know, sort of, and Valtteri had ended up doing strange sort of cross between a grimace and a smile, to which Nico had to try very, very hard not to laugh at. 

The third time Nico met Valtteri on campus was when Nico had decided to sit at one of the student run cafes for a quick lunch before his next class, and lo and behold the only empty seat had been with Valtteri and next to him had been Heikki, Nico's Most Annoying Roommate From Hell. And when Valtteri's fingers had accidentally brushed Nico's hand his cheeks had flushed a delightful shade of pink and he had dropped the sugar spoon like he had been burnt. Heikki had looked at Nico, eyes narrowed, and Nico had elected to ignore it.

Then there had been the fourth and the fifth and the sixth time and so on, mostly involving Valtteri stumbling over his words around Nico and having his words come out wrong. To which Valtteri had attributed it to being nervous around people, but after the third such incident where he had been perfectly fine with Heikki, Nico had quickly realised what it was. And well, Nico isn't exactly very public with his orientation, those who need to know will know eventually anyway and Nico supposes it's the same for Valtteri. So he watches him, bides his time and enjoys how Valtteri dances around him, albeit with two left feet.

 

And of course, it doesn't take long before Nico starts having fun with Valtteri. His definition of fun though, involves him commenting on how Valtteri looks tired when he sees him, to which Valtteri nods and says that the advanced class he had chosen had been a bit too difficult to handle. And Nico says that he can tell, given how his shoulders look really tense — a definite indicator of stress and then he leans in and says that Valtteri looks like he's in dire need of a massage. It's beautiful to watch Valtteri's cheeks flush in an explosion of pink and Nico grins, saying that Felipe knows a couple of places if Valtteri needs it, which leads to Valtteri mumbling something incoherent about how he's good without it, thank you very much.

 

Of course, it's not a one off occurence. Nico deliberately lets his gaze linger when he meets Valtteri in the gym, and while he's careful to make sure that Valtteri's not lifting something that might injure him if he accidentally dropped it, Valtteri ends up dropping his water bottle as he watches Nico lick his lips slowly, spilling water all over. Oh well.

 

There's the time when Nico comes out of the shower to shouts and grunts and he's wondering if someone had decided to have a fight in his living room only to find that it's only Valtteri yelling at a laptop screen with Heikki and oh, it's hockey. Nico settles on to the armchair opposite them, carefully towelling his hair dry but it drips all over his white t-shirt anyway and when Valtteri looks up at Nico he's actually _staring_ before Heikki nudges him and they're back to the game again with much yelling. Nico finds it amusing that Heikki gets so worked up over hockey and then complains about how Nico is ridiculous when it comes to F1, always poking fun at Nico for yelling all sorts of weird curses when the other drivers get too close to his namesake in that Williams car.

The hockey match ends soon enough with Heikki fuming and Valtteri looking absolutely chuffed about the result and Nico grins at Valtteri. Anything that gets Heikki that annoyed is definitely a good thing, and Heikki glares at Nico like he could tear him into a billion pieces. Not that Nico cares, really. Then Valtteri is scratching at the back of his head shyly and saying that he should be going now and when Nico invites Valtteri to stay for dinner because hey, he's cooking pasta Heikki looks absolutely murderous.

One thing leads to another, of course, and somehow, _somehow_ Valtteri manages to spill his glass of water all over Nico. It's cold, and when Nico looks down he knows that his nipples are hard beneath the wet fabric as a result and oh, Valtteri is staring again and his ears are red to boot.

'I'm sorry,' he says, looking quite stricken.

'It's okay,' Nico says, smiling. He has half a mind to take off his shirt now to see how Valtteri would react, but Heikki is a mass of murderous energy next to him with a tight smile that says _for fuck's sake don't drag me into your weird game of unresolved sexual tension_ so instead he merely gets up, heading for his room. 'I'll get another shirt.' Nico makes sure that when he walks he fucking _sashays_ , to which Heikki mouths at him _I can't fucking believe you_. Valtteri, of course, remains oblivious, eyes firmly glued to the hypnotic movement of Nico's arse.

Excellent.

 

Then there's how Nico leans in casually, looking over at Valtteri's work because hey, Mathematics and graphing, and Nico can definitely offer a little thing or two about it. He notices how Valtteri's attention is on his arse, sticking out as he bends over the table to reach for a pen from Valtteri's pencil case. Afterwards Valtteri looks at him, face straight and says that Nico has nice curves, gesturing to what Nico had just drawn. But his eyes say otherwise and Nico grins, reaching to pat Valtteri's shoulder. He leans in and says, voice low before he leaves, 'You're not too bad yourself.'

And as usual, Valtteri's cheeks turn beetroot red. How lovely.

 

'You're an asshole,' Heikki says, kicking the door to Nico's room open. Or at least, that's everything Heikki says about Nico summarised into one word, because he goes on with a bunch of Finnish swear words that Nico is rolling his eyes over.

Nico grunts, eyes not leaving his laptop. He has a stupid coding problem to fix and it definitely worth more than engaging Heikki in a competition to see who can insult each other more in different languages.

To which Heikki responds by sending an unidentified flying object Nico's way, and Nico ducks in the nick of time. There is a loud thud as it hits the wall and flops on to Nico's bed and Nico pauses, turning to look at it. Oh, a box of chocolates. Well now.

'What's that?' Nico asks, leaning over his bed to look at the box. Chocolate truffles. Nice.

'You're disgusting,' Heikki says, wrinkling his nose at what Nico is wearing. A Williams F1 tee and boxers and he looks like shit, but some people actually _do_ find Nico hot, which Heikki finds hard to believe. Then again, familiarity breeds contempt, and Heikki has known Nico since days of yore and horrific acne. So no, ew again.

'You don't have to solve problems for people who mess up over and over again for one simple group project,' Nico snorts, tearing open the plastic wrapping for the box. 'Who's this from?'

'Your new puppy,' Heikki says, swiping a truffle from the box. He pops it into his mouth, chewing noisily. 'He likes you so much, it's painful to watch. I might throw up.'

'This stuff is good,' Nico says, now on to his third truffle.

Heikki snorts. 'You don't have a heart,' he says, taking another truffle. He licks the melted chocolate off his fingers, saying 'Valtteri has shit taste in men, but fine taste in chocolate. What gives.'

'Get out,' Nico says, punching Heikki on his arm with a glare.

Heikki laughs. 'He put it in our mailbox and he didn't even write his name. I spotted him though. We talked.'

'How, by slinging angry birds at each other?' Nico deadpans.

'Very funny, Rosberg,' Heikki snorts. 'Well, you'll see.' Heikki grins, smile wide and showing teeth.

Nico pokes Heikki in the side, and Heikki yelps. 'Get out!'

 

Well, chocolates take things to a whole new level. Then again, Heikki might be pulling one of his ridiculously elaborate pranks on him. Nico can never be certain.

It's a whole week before he meets Valtteri again, after the first of his finals. It had been a terribly painful affair, and Nico's fairly certain his head hurts when he runs into Valtteri.

'Thanks for the chocolates,' Nico says, after they exchange pleasantries and small talk about how shitty exams are. Then again Valtteri probably has to pass and that'll be it for him, given how he's on exchange. 'They were delicious. You have good taste,' he says, and makes it a point to lick his lips slowly, delighting in how Valtteri's eyes follow the movement of his tongue.

'Uh, I,' Valtteri begins, not quite knowing what to say, aware that he had been caught staring. 'Uh, I'm backpacking for winter break. It's an early Christmas present. For you. And Heikki,' he adds belatedly, to which Nico raises an eyebrow.

'For _us_ to enjoy without you?' Nico asks, and at that Valtteri's cheeks turn pink again. 'What a shame, you travelled all the way to see us and left without coming in to say hi.'

'I saw Heikki at the lobby,' Valtteri offers.

'Chocolates for Heikki,' Nico says, looking contemplative. 'Do you have a message you'd like me to send his way then?'

Valtteri's expression can only be described as a strange mix between horrified and embarrassed and not having an expression at all. 'No!'

'You sure?' Nico asks, and Valtteri groans.

Oops, maybe a little too far with that then.

 

Felipe holds a party at his place after finals week. Heikki goes along with his girlfriend (who, in Nico's opinion, is a nice and lovely girl and Heikki is utterly undeserving of her) and when he spots Valtteri he shoves Nico over to him in his direction. And that's pretty much how they end up under mistletoe, because Felipe had insisted on it being a pre-Christmas Christmas party because everyone would be going home or screwing off to some other country for the holidays, although that last bit had been added on by his roommate (and probably boyfriend), Rob.

'Mistletoe,' Nico says, smiling sweetly at Valtteri. Valtteri looks at him like his heart is about to burst out of his chest any moment. Brilliant. 'Well?'

'Do you,' Valtteri begins, unsure of what to say. 'I, uh.'

'Felipe has a closet we can borrow,' Nico says, struggling to sound serious.

'I wasn't thinking that far ahead.' Valtteri looks suitably chagrined the moment the words slip out of his mouth.

Oh well, time to stop messing with Valtteri like this, especially since he's only got one more semester here in London. Nico smirks, then he leans in to whisper in Valtteri's ear 'But I was.'

When he pulls away, Valtteri's cheeks are beautifully red again as he struggles to speak. Somewhere across the room Heikki cackles, much to Nico's annoyance. 'Well?'

'Where is that closet?' Valtteri asks finally, voice strangled.

Nico grins. 'I'm glad you asked.'

**Author's Note:**

> title adapted from [some](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-FhDScM_2w).


End file.
